


A Ride Along the River

by CoreaStories



Category: King of Eternity, The King: Eternal Monarch, The King: Eternal Monarch RPF, 더 킹：영원의 군주 | The King: Eternal Monarch (TV)
Genre: Also of all-night shenanigans with fandom friends, F/M, Fruit of THAT Video
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25065157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreaStories/pseuds/CoreaStories
Summary: ...just basking in this new and wonderful thing they had.As seen on Twitter thread, @CoreaStoriesExtended version-- no character count or thread restrictions here.With the utmost respect for both actors that remain unnamed here, this is a work of fiction. This is wish fulfillment. No pressure to the real people.
Relationships: Kim Go Eun/Lee Min Ho
Comments: 19
Kudos: 143





	A Ride Along the River

**Author's Note:**

> You have to know about HIS July 2 Instagram posts to understand this.  
> And you also need to look at HER posts, same date. :) 
> 
> Dedicated to pateetsie and collectsfallenstars-- chef's kissa  
> Made with mad love and admiration for him, her, and them together.

She felt someone shake her gently and she smiled--knowing it was her mom or dad and maybe they had an advance gift.

But she smiled without opening her eyes. Her birthday was tomorrow. Her birthday could wait. Sleep was important.

"Wake up, birthday girl. You have a visitor."

That made her eyelids fly open. Who on earth would come at-- She looked at the clock. It was after 9pm.

She looked at her dad's half smile half smirk and knew. And suddenly her heart was pounding in her chest. 

"Come out when you're ready."

Her dad left her bedroom and she looked at the clothes she still hadn't put away. How long have they been there on that chair? She'd been tired every day lately. So tired. She had arrived home today at seven and she had barely had any energy to wash her face, brush her teeth and change her clothes before she'd passed out in bed. 

Oddly, she felt none of that tiredness right now. She was wide awake. Was he really here?

He had been so... sweet in his messages and calls. Not pressing her, but not leaving any doubt about his intentions either. 

She got up and pulled the purple shirt at the bottom of the pile and grinned fondly at its wrinkled glory. She took off her pajama top and put on the purple shirt. He had told her he liked her in these huge shirts. That dork. 

She ran her fingers through her short hair, loving the feel of it. He hadn't seen it yet. She'd been planning to surprise him in a video call. She wiped her face with the bottom of her shirt to get rid of any sleep grease and grit. That was it, she laughed to herself. She was ready. 

She quashed the silly notion that she should maybe put on some eyeshadow and powder, make herself look a bit better than she did now. No. She wouldn't make herself up. She didn't need to. Not with him. 

He'd passed that test long before she was even aware she was testing him. 

She came out of her room and saw him in the dining area, saw the cutest ice cream cake slices on the table, saw him pouring another glass of water. Saw him see her. Saw him take her in from her unbrushed hair to her bare feet. Saw him smile like he couldn't help it. 

That smile made her feel like she was the only thing he saw in the room. It was intense and incredible and she wondered if she'd ever get used to it. 

She just smiled back and decided that maybe... maybe there really was something here. When he got up and gave her an envelope, her heart felt like it wanted to escape her ribcage so she laughed.

They were always laughing, weren't they? Look at that silly grin on his face. 

"Are you still reading or watching my old interviews?" 

"What old interviews?" But his grin had turned shy. "It just says happy birthday. Read it later."

"Thank you."

He put the Baskin Robbins party hat on her head, paused to see if she was ok with it, and then gently snapped the elastic against her neck. She slapped his arm as he laughed.

He adjusted the elastic. In those seconds that his hands rested on the junction of her neck and shoulders, she remembered that other time he'd done this, when he had first made her afraid of what she was beginning to feel whenever he touched her. She felt the same fluttering in her stomach right now, but though she searched for the fear, it was no longer there. 

No, there was no fear or nerves. In fact, it _felt only natural_ \-- her looking up, him looking down-- that they closed the gap between them without any fanfare or tension, just a natural pull until their lips met. A hello kiss after their time apart, and then they smiled at each other. 

She saw the silly sunglasses and put them on herself. They were grinning too much but she didn't care. They sat at the table and she smiled at those lit candles. Using her phone, he took photos without taking his eyes off her.

Was it any wonder she forgot to even look for her mom and dad? They'd probably gone to bed. She appreciated them for the privacy. For the trust. They knew who he was but they knew who _she_ was and there hadn't been any drama at all when they saw what they saw. Just welcomed him and left him alone here to be assaulted by the sight of her in sleep clothes, didn't they. 

"Do you want any cake?"

"Not if you don't want any. It's too late for sweets, yeah?"

"Yeah." She blew out the candles. 

He came around the table and helped her put the cakes away in the fridge. She liked that too much, seeing him puttering in her kitchen, moving the butter, the leftover containers and packs of frozen meat and peas to make room for the cakes. He even tasted some side dishes. He was ridiculous. 

When he drank and finished his water, the soft thud of the glass on the table was like a signal that their evening had ended.

But she didn't want it to end yet. "Let's go outside."

She got on her bike. He got on his hoverboard.

But not before he gave her a bouquet. Blue and purple and yellow flowers. She looked at him reproachfully. Why hadn't he taken this to her house? She had to take it back there? He grinned. "Well, I wanted you to be the first to see it, not your dad."

She raised her eyebrow. "Smooth. You were shy, weren't you?" He just laughed.

She loved that he still got shy. It wasn't like her dad didn't know everything. But it was adorable that he still got nervous about her dad. And her dad liked it, too. Liked that he wasn't too confident, too self-assured. Not for this.

She secured the bouquet with its own ribbons onto her bike and they glided through the night on their silent wheels.

They didn't say anything, only crinkling their eyes at each other whenever their gazes met and locked above their masks.

They both took videos and photos, both while off and on their wheels. The Han River was a black mirror of lights and stars and she loved the balmy air, loved this evening.

They ended up at the railing, standing hip to hip, elbows overlapping, looking out at the water and the lights. 

"What are you doing tomorrow? Is your day full?"

"Not really. The agency's a sure thing. They say I have a lot of gifts to pick up. Then I think my mom and dad have a small party planned." She wrinkled her nose. "I just really want to sleep."

He took her hand and cradled it against the railing. "Sorry I woke you up." But he was grinning as he said that. She really loved that grin. She understood why it made millions of people insane. "I missed you," he said softly, looking at the river, gently squeezing her hand.

She took a deep breath, didn't bother hiding how she felt, not this time. "I missed you, too." And she did.

They had... They had an unspoken agreement to take some time apart and see if what they felt for each other was real instead of the dregs of the feelings of the characters they'd played. Time apart that didn't really work, did it, because they had stayed in touch, stayed connected, and neither of them seemed to want to be the one to attempt to disconnect. 

On his birthday, their unspoken agreement on text messages ended. Because she had called him, and he had called her, and here he was ten days later. 

He turned to her now, smiling. Transferred her hand from one hand to the other as he moved the hand close to her to place his arm around her and tuck her against him. "Happy birthday." He pressed his lips to her forehead. 

She savored that kiss and then hid her face against his jacket, loving his scent and how warm he was. "It IS a happy birthday."

And even though she loved her hand in his, she pulled away so she can snake her arm under his jacket and around his waist.

They stayed like that for some time, just holding each other. She loved that he knew when to talk--and they talked a lot--and when to let them both just bask in this new and wonderful thing they had.

Because it _was_ wonderful.

And the next day, when she saw that he'd been up to mischief, she wasn't even angry.

That song-- it was the song he'd shared with her last night when they decided to listen to some music, sharing his earbuds, and then ending up kissing because they always seemed to end up kissing when their faces were close like that. It was natural. It was gravity. 

She bit her lips against the remnant sensation. She was smiling as she closed Insta and called him. He was already laughing the moment he picked up.

"I told you they love us."

"Shut up."


End file.
